Many types of vehicles, including sports utility vehicles, pick up trucks, and vans, are raised off the ground farther than normal passenger automobiles. The increased height of the floor of the passenger cab from the ground makes it difficult to enter and exit these vehicles. In addition, if the vehicles are driven over rough terrain, their lower body panels and door panels are susceptible to being scratched, dented, or otherwise damaged by rocks or other ground debris. Accordingly, running boards provide a stepping surface to assist the driver and passengers in entering and exiting these vehicles. In addition, the running boards protect the body of the vehicles from being damaged from below.
Running boards commonly include a least two different materials that are attached together, namely, a first material for the body of the running board and a second material for the stepping surface of the running board. There exist numerous references describing various running board designs. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,979 to Bernard; U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,589 to Delgado et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 1,861,430 to Bronson; 300,536 to Holloway et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,638 to Straka; U.S. Pat. No. 2,122,240 to Smith; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,021,522 to Schacht.